rt rt o
Mil
iter
VOLUME XXVII.
BOX BUTTE GETS
BUT FORTY PES
OF STATE hSl
TH'LEAN MEETS WITH COMMUV
ITY CLUB DIRECTORS
.Representatives of State Engineer's
Office Outlines Projects Un
der Construction
Box Butte county will have only
forty miles of state and federal aid
roads, under present plans, when the
flve-year period for which federal aid
was appropriated expires. And of
this forty miles, but eleven will be
constructed during 1920. All this.
and several other things, was ex
plained by Division Road Engineer
.McLean, In charge of highway con
struction and maintenance for the
Fifth division of Nebraska, who met
with the directors of the Alliance
Community club on Wednesday
morning, and. with the aid of several
maps and charts, explained the road
building program as it will affect Box
.unite county.
This total of forty miles consists
of the first six miles of the Potash
highway, an da road north from Al
liance to Chadron, of which exactly
30.8 miles will lie within this county.
For the year 1920, there will be but
eleven miles built, the portion of the
Potash highway lying within the
county and the first five miles of
the Chadron road. The remaining
35.S miles of this road will be built
during 1921. However, the plan is
to do some work on this 25.8 miles
bo that it will be placed in a fair con
dition for travel.
According to Mr. McLean, this
small total of roads does not mean
that Box Butte county is not getting
a square deal. The total appropria
tion of government and state money
for the county amounted to only
379,116, which is considerably loss
than other nearby counties received.
The appropriations were based on
three things, population, area and
mileage of improved roads. Box
Butte county came in strong on pop
ulation and area, but fell down hard
on the improved . roads,' Sheridan
coui?ty, for examplerha total ap
propriation of $176,737; Cheyenne,
3148,092; Sioux, $124,339; Morrill.
395,585; Garden, $103,591. Some
counties drew less than we did.
Arthur receives $51,548; Grant.
$45,161, and Banner, $52,870.
' Mr. McLean pointed out that In
order for Box Butte county to have
any work done, at all this year, it
will be necessary, for the county com
missioners to appoint a highway com
missioner. The law provides that
such an official must approve bills,
and it was hinted very strongly that
the road building program here
would be allowed to wait unless the
appointment were made.
The whole road building program
for the state, it was exptalned, is
based on a primary system suggested
by the state engineer's office. The
main highways north and south and
' east and west were laid out, and the
legislature, through H. R. 298, at
the last session designated the towns
through which the roads were to run.
The county commissioners, acting In
co-operation with the state engin
eer's office, have taken the last step
and laid out the routes between
towns. The whole system is now
completed and approved.
A number of counties asked for
state and federal aid for other high
ways than those that had been des
ignated. Funds appropriated are In
sufficient to care for the primary
system, and this means that other
highways will have to wait. As fast
as these state roads are finished, they
will be turned over to the counties,
which must maintain them. Funds
for this purpose are derived from
auto license fees, which go directly
to the county. Of the fees turned
In, less actual cost of administration,
75 per cent is expended for state
roads and the remaining 25 per cent
for other roads. Inasmuch as the
license fees have been increased, this
means that Box 'Butte county will
have $18,500 to use for road pur
poses, and some $13,000 of this will
be used on the state roads.
The state will insist that the roads
turned over be kept up, and the
maintenance work will be under the
general supervision of the district
engineers, who will give directions
as to what steps are necessary. The
hlKhwar commissioner will be
charged with the actual supervision
The state department has received
from the war department 197 amy
trucks and fifty Holt caterpillar trac
tors. It has also purchased seventy
graders. Two graders, one of these
THE WEATHER
For Alliance and vicinity: Gener
ally fair tonight and Saturday
Warmer east and south portion to
night. Colder northwest portion
Saturday afternoon.
I
'ractors, and possibly a truck or two
0 be shipped to this county. They
until in me roaa worn nere
a, .v arge will be made save for
mau ... It may be that they
will bt ied over to the county
after the atate roads are constructed.
Mr. McLean said that the first big
Job for the county highway commis
sioner would be the marking of the
roads. A system has been devised
for this which is a regular marvel.
The government has turned over a
number of posts to the state, sufil
cient to mark every mile of state
roads. The plan is to divide the
state roads into patrol sections of
ten or twelve miles each, place each
section in charge of a patrolman who
will not only be responsible for keep
ing it in shape, but whose name will
be posted at the beginning and end
of his section so that those who use
the road will know who to commend
and who to condemn. The patrolman
will also be a sort of road officer, and
will oe charged with seeing that cars
have proper license tags. When the
Btate roads are all completed and the
ne wsystem in proper working order,
the problem of proper road mainten
ance ought to be greatly simplified.
Mr. McLean discussed the building
of the Alliance-Antioch highway at
some length with the directors.
Among other things, he assured them
that it would be put in proper shape
the first thing in the spring. The
first six miles of this highway are
unsurfaced, but the remaining nine
miles are to have a gravel coating.
The speaker brought up the mat
ter of state serial bonds, to be used
for the building of roads. Under the
present constitution the - state can
ont issue state bonds for this pur
pose, and a proposition has been
brought before the constitutional
convention, sponsored by the recent
state convention of county commis
sioners, to so change the constitu
tion that this will be possible. It
was pointed out that many of the
western counties, by reason of their
low property valuation, would never
be able to raise sufficient funds to
properly construct all the roads they
needed, and a state serial bond issue
for this purpose "would place' the
burden over the state as a whole.
It meant, of course, that eastern Ne
braska would be taxed to build roads
In . western Nebraska, but such a
course would be only fair. Improved
transportation facilities for produce
from these counties would more than
make up for the expense. It was
suggested that Alliance help build
roads for the 'test of Box Butte
county, and that It is not at all a los
ing proposition.
Following the meeting, Secretary
Rufus Jones of the Community club,
by direction of the board of directors,
stated that they favored sending a
communication to Delegate H. H.
Hewitt a' constitutional amendment
that would permit of the issuance
of state serial bonds for such a
purpose.
WOMAN'S CLUB WANTSS
WALKS KEPT CLEAR
Hereafter, After Heavy Snowfall,
Resident Will Be Notified When
Streets Need to Be Cleaned
In an effort to setter the condition
of our streets after a heavy fall of
snow, the Woman's club of Alliance
appointed two of its members Mrs.
Will Johnson and Mrs. Harry Thlele
to Interview the city manager re
garding the matter. A cly ordinance
provides that property owners and
renters must keep the sidewalks
around their residences cleaned, yet
after every severe snowfall, parts of
the city are practically isolated from
the rest of the world, walks and
crossings in many places being al
most impassable. This is not the
first time the Woman's club has in
terested itself in this matter.
The city manager has promised to
use his best efforts hereafter to re
lieve the situation. He has, up to
this time, been handicapped because
of lack of help. In the future, after
snow has fallen, two men will pa
trol the town, calling at each house
where people have failed to obey the
law, directing their attention to the
fact, and using all possible means
to enforce the snow ordinance. With
the co-operation of every public spir
ited citizen of Alliance, at no time
should It be necessary for anyone to
wade through drifts of snow some
where under which lie public streets
which, with a little effort, could have
been made passable.
ALLIANCE, BOX BUTTE COUNTY,
(PLANS FOR WORK
OF CITY MISSION
Committee From Various Organ tia
tlon of City to Meet in Court
1 louse Monday livening
The executive committee of the
City Mission held a special meeting
Wednesday morning and formulated
plans for the work of the mission
for the next three months. Because
of the lack of funds in the past, the
mission has not been able to do what
it' desired. Because of certain con
dltions, the expenses of the organ'
Izatlon have been very much in ar
rears during the past year, and a de
ficit of something over $200 has ac
cumulated. These facts were brought
to the attention of the various or
ganlzations of the city some weeks
ago, and a special committee was
called from these organizations to
plan for the future work of the
mission. '
At the present time there is this
outstanding indebtedness and the
owner of the building In which the
mission has been doing its work has
urged that his rent be paid. The call
of the hour Is imperative, and un
less the various organizations of the
city get under this load at once, the
work of the mission will have to be
abandoned. Do the people of Alli
ance want to let those to whom the
mission has ministered be left at this
time of the year without anybody
responsible for their support 7
The committee to whom this task
has been assigned now calls for the
entire co-operation of the various
organizations interested, and has
called a special meeting of the dif
ferent representatives to meet at the
court house next Monday evening at
7:30 o'clock, at which time the fu
ture work will be determined. Now
Is the time to get busy in the inter
est of the needy of our city. Get
under the load or get off the job is
the decision of at least some mem
bers of the committee. What are you
going to do in this urgent call of the
mission.
Notice
Notice to representatives of fra
ternal and religious organizations
for city mission work is hereby given
that a special meeting of the author
ized representatives or the varleus
organizations, who are responsible
for the election of the present city
mission board, is appointed for Mon
day evening at 7:30 at the county
court room at the call of your exec
utive board. It Is imperative that
every representative oe present.
J. O. GOULD (Pres),
LLOYD THOMAS,
MRS. HACKER,
J. S. RHEIN, ,
F. A. LAPE,
A. J. KEARNS (Sec.-Treas.),
Committee, j
FURTHER ADVANCES D I
IN RETAIL PRICES
W. R. Harper Sees No Prospects for
Lower Selling Costs for Sev
eral Months to Come
W. R. Harper returned the first of
the week from a two weeks' buying
trip that took him to several of the
wholesale centers of the country.
Among other places, he made exten
sive purchases in Chicago, Pittsburg
and New York city of goods for the
spring and summer trade. He found
great activit yln practically all lines
of trade, with the demand far ex
ceeding the supply.
Prospects are that there will be
no let down in prices for several
months, Mr. Harper says. Whole
sale prices have gone up to the level
of present retail prices, and this can
mean only one thing. Production is
greatly curtailed. In the clothing
lines especially, where the rate is
only 50 per cent of normal. There
Is a scarcity of labor, and it is neces
sary to pay high wages to get work
men. .
There seems to be plenty of money
In the east. Retail stores are doing
a record amount of business, and are
getting record prices. Mr. Harper
made some investigation of the prices
charged in the cities and reports
that they are considerably higher on
practically every article than Alli
ance people have to pay.
The wholesale houses no longer
accept orders of any and every size.
Customers are limited as to the
amount they may buy, in order that
every dealer may hare something to
selL Mr. Harper bought to the limit
In every line. He is looking for a
record business during the coming
months, and has done his best to get
in a position to take care of it
"NEBRASKA, JANUARY 9, 1920.
(dav crmiTc ni am
ANJXHIBITION
"A Day In Camp" to lie Presented at
the Presbyterian (liuixh Kent
Thurwlay livening
On next Thursday evening, Janu
ary 15, Alliance citizens will be given
an opportunity to see what sort of
training the boy scouts are recelv
ing. At 8 p. m. on that day at the
First Presbyterian church, Troop No
1 of Alliance will stage an exhlbt
tlon of scout work, under the name
of "A Day in Camp," at which time
the members will show the results
of their training In first aid, in slg
nailing, knot tielng, cooking and va
rlous athletic stunts, such as pyra
mid building. There will be no ad
mission fee, and the public is invited
to attend.
Troop No. 1 is the first boy scout
organization that ever succeeded in
Alliance. ... It came Into existence
a year and a month ago, and has
been going strong ever since. There
have been numerous other troops
that have organized, but which dls
banded after a few weeks or months
Due to the rules, which limit the
membership of a troop to thirty-two,
there are now fifteen boys on the
waiting list hoping for some of the
members to leave town or get cold
feet, but the prospects are that they
will have to wait for some time. An
other troop could easily be organ
ized, but there is no one to take
charge of it.
J. B. Miller Is scoutmaster and K
R. Hamilton and George W. Simp
son are assistants. The troop meets
every Thursday night, and there is a
tremendous interest among the mem
bers. The training is the sort of
stuff that not only appeals to the
boys, but is the best in the world
for them. The membership is divid
ed into classes, in accordance with
the amount of scout knowledge they
have. There are now three first
class scouts out of the thirty-two
boys who have absorbed the
knowledge prescribed and all. but
three or four of the remaining twenty-nine
are ranked as second class.
A first class scout must be able,
among other things, to pass the ex
aminations in advanced first aid. He
mui be able to draw field maps, and
signal at a certain rate of speed. He
must have taken one fourteen-mile
hike and have written a full account
Of It. 1 r i
The second-class scouts must be
proficient in first aid up (6 a certain
degree, and must have attained skill
along the lines of signalling, cook
ing and observation.
The troop here has been handi
capped in the matter of hikes. There
is no particularly suitable routes, but
during the fair weather several of
these have been staged. The fourteen-mile
hike took place some
months ago, and another is scheduled
for this summed, when a number of
scouts will attain the . first class
rating."
VAUDEVILLE AT THE
IMPERIAL SATURDAY
Another five acts of Pantages vaud
eville will appear at the Imperial
Saturday, matinee and night. The
list comprises The Daltons, supreme
novelty entertainers; Williams &
Miller, in songs and romedy; Irene
Zolar, with her Three Blue Streaks
of Jazz; Chet Wilson, in comedy
talking and cartooning; Pitroff the
Great and Company, the most sen
sational of European novelties.
The photoplay portion of the pro
gram will include Alice Brady in
"The Better Half," In which the star
plays a double part. The play is an
adaptation of Miriam Michelson's
novel, "Michael Thwaite's Wife," and
deals with the story of twin sisters
who are of entirely different types.
Tom Mix in a burlesue, "Starrlnqg in
Western Stuff," and a Mutt and Jeff
cartoon, "The Birth of a Nation,"
conclude what promises to be an ex
ceptional bill.
Sunday, the second episode of the
serial, "The Invisible Hand." will be
shown, together with Ethel Clayton
in "Men, Women and Money," and a
comedy, "The Footlights." Consld
erable interest was aroused by the
first installment of the serial, which
artfully left off in a most exciting
place.
Monday's bill is featured by "The
Escape," starring Blanche Sweet and
Owen Moore. It is a story of the
slums, produced by D. w. urimtn.
and has been pronounced a "thor
oughly enjoyable" show.
If you would be happy let the
other fellow do the worrying.
(illKETlNUS TO WOMAN'S
CLV11 FltO!l IHOMUAN HOY
Mrs. L. H. Highland, chairman of
the Belgian relief fund for the Alli
ance Woman's club, received a New
i ear's card written by one, of the
little Belgian orphan boys in a good.
plain American hand, of which the
club Is very proud. The following
is a copy:
DE PAUNE, Belgium. Dear
Madames: Just a card wishing you
all a very happy New Year. From
Charles Chrlstan."
The Woman's club has contributed
for two years to the suppert of a
mother and two small sons. . By Klv
Ing this family aid the mother kept
these boys in school and it is verr
gratifying to the club members to
receive these cards written in the
American language.
lI 1
A STATEMENT BY DR. MAIIAFFY
To the Public:
Certain individuals, because of ul
terior motives best known to them
selves, have seen fit to circulate a
report that I Intend to remove from
Alliance.
The report Is, of course, untrue.
Dentists, like other professional men,
are not In the habit of abandoning
lucrative practices, and, inasmuch
as mine is highly satisfactory to me
and Is growing steadily in volume
as the months go by, I certainly have
no intention of biding it farewell.
W. J. MAHAFFY, D. D. S. .
STEVE CANNON TO
MEET WHEELER
Thursday, January 15, Date Set for
Interesting Wrestling Match
at the Armory
Thursday, January 16, s the date
set for what promises to be an ex
ceptionally interesting grappling con
test at the armory. On that date
Steve Cannon, weight 150, will again
meet A. B. Wheeler, who tips the
scales at 212 pounds. The last time
these two men met ont the mat, Can
non recelyed some damaged rigs,
but he is back in prime condition
now and has a hunch that he can
put Wheeler on his back. To show
how strong the hunch Is, it might
be mentioned that the match Is for
the entire gate receipts and there
has been a side bet of -' $100 laid,"
with" Jack . Rlordan holding the
stakes. '
Cannon has mapped out a rather
strenuous wrestling program for
himself this month. .One, the 16th,
he will meet Wheeler. On January
21, he is scheduled to wrestle Joe
Stakes at Scottsbluff, and on the 28th
the postponed match with Pete Bu-
zukos will be pulled off. Cannon
has been doing some hard working
out, and says that he never felt more
fit. Wheeler is feeling pretty fine
himself, and the contest ought to be
ahummer from start to finish.
Buzukos has been receiving a lot
of publicity down in the capital city,
where he tr scheduled to meet Adam
Krieger, Lincoln's claimant Of the
world's welterweight championship,
this evening. Advertisement.
BILL HART AT THE
IMPERIAL TONIGHT
It's a good program that the Im
perial has provided for this evening.
William S. Hart will appear as "The
Two-Gun Man" in "The Bargain,"
and the producers have promised sev
eral reels of the kind of thrills that
Bill manages to produce. There is
one scene that will make every young
lady in the audience positively gasp,
and some of the men folks will prob
ably gulp a little. Folks who like
western plays in which the hero isn't
merely a combination of a bandana
handkerchief and a six-shooter al
ways manage to come out the night
a Bill Hart play is scheduled. A
Harold Lloyd comedy and Universal
Weekly complete the bill.
POSTPONE MEETING
OF AMERICAN LEGION
The meeting of the American Le
gion, scheduled for this evening at
7:30 at the armory, has been post
poned until next Tuesday. At a
meeting held last Tuesday, plans
were made to bold the first rehear
sal of the legion's minSstrel show
tonight, but Mr. Mann, who has con
sented to lead and train the chorus,
is ill and unable to be present
Every legion member who is will
ing te take a part in the coming pro
duction is asked to show up prompt
ly at 7:30 next Tuesday evening for
the first practice.
NUMBER 11
HOME BUILDERS
ARE READY TO
BEGINJCTIVITIES
ANNUAL MEETING WAS HELD tf
TUESDAY KYKNING
Old Officers and Directors Re-elected
Additional Sales of Stock
Reported
The first annual mpotlnr nf th At.
llance Home Builders' association.
held In the Community club room
Tuesday evening, found the new or
ganizatlon In an exceedingly prosper
ous condition, considering the fact
mat u is less than two months old.
Considerably over half of the $100,- -000
stock to be issued has been sub
scribed for, and no difficulty is an
tlclpated in disposing of the balance.
There Is no doubt that Alliance will
have at least two hundred new home
in which to house its citizens as a re
sult of the activities of the asso
ciation.
The members re-elected the offi
cers and directors, as follows: Pres
ident, G. L. Griggs; secretary, M. 9.
Hargraves; treasurer. J. W. Guthrie:
directors, H. A. Copsey, F. W. Harris, .
V. Rodgers. Glen Miller. F. A.
Bald, B. J. Sallows.
An executive committee of three
members was appointed, which will
have charge of the purchase ot lot
and materials, subject to the ap
proval of -the board.
Additional stock subscription
were reported as follows: 11. I
DIerk.s, James Dobry, E. T. Kibble,
Forest Lumber company, J. A. Rob
inson, Burr Printing company,
O'Bannon Bros., C. H. Fuller. Fow
ler Lumber comnanv. O. C. Moore-
Three of these had previously mad
subscriptions, but decided to increase
the amount of their holdings.
No aggressive campaign to secure
stock subscriptions has been made
previous to the first annual meeting.
but from now on an. effort will be
made to complete the sale ofatoelt.
The more money the association ha
on band, the sooner it will be able
to complete the ambitious program It
has laid out. Citizens of Alliance
who have the la Ureal -of -their town
at heart will not delay a minute to ,
come forward and place a subscrip
tion which is not only a good, invest
ment but a-direct aid in making the
city what it should be. As the Com
comunlty club, which fathered the
organization. Is fond of saying.
"Let's Go!"
LON DRAKE RELEASED
ANDVINDICATED
Lon Drake, who was brought back
from Lincoln the first of the week
by, Sheriff Miller to answer to a
charge of drawing a check on one of
the local banks when he had no
funds on deposit to pay the same.
was released shortly after his arrlvaL
It developed, according to Sheriff
Miller, that Drake had received a tel
egram from a sister in Illinois to the
effect that his mother was seriously
ill. He had gone to the bank, told
them of this, and wanted to draw
out what money he had on deposit.
He reminded them that he bad a
check out in favor of F. E. Holsten
for $6.26, and requested them to
take out the money to pay it. They
did so, and gave him the balance.
It seems that after be left, a check
for $10 in favor ot himself, drawn
to "cash" and cashed at the bank
was discovered. This, due to some
oversight, had not been deducted at
the time.the account was closed. The
arrest followed. Drake asserted that
he had no desire to defraud the
bank, and in fact, the evidence was
all in his favor. Immediately upon
his release from custody, he hurried
to Chicago, to be with his mother.
LACKEY HEARING
MONDAY MORNING.
A preliminary hearing for Law
rence 11. Lackey, charged with mur
der in the first degree, will be held
in the county court room on Mon
day, unless postponement is ordered.
Considerable public Interest has been
aroused in the case, and defense and
prosecution have indicated some in
teresting testimony.
A special meeting of the Alliance
Volunteer Fire department has been
called for Saturday evening, at which
time plans for a special train te the
state convention will be discussed.